'Cornell won't, we will': Student journalists 'relentlessly' reporting on university rape

Radio Free Europe reports that "in a rare show of dissent amid crackdown, Iranian university students stage protest". They are rallying against the country's hijab law, calling for the release of some of their classmates who have been imprisoned and speaking out about the poor living conditions on campus. The paper says that protests in Iran have been rare after the mass crackdown in January, when thousands of people were killed according to human rights groups. Iran Wire reports that inmates from 66 prisons across Iran are also protesting. The campaign is called "No to executions Tuesdays" and consists of weekly hunger strikes protesting the death penalty and demanding its absolute abolition.

Next, The New York Times interviews Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was imprisoned in Russia for 16 months. He was released after a US-Russian prisoner swap in 2024. The article is called "The Russian prison Gershkovich carried home". In the interview, he describes the tiny cell he lived in. He could make around six steps in there. He spent his waking hours in anger, panic attacks or crying. He is feeling better now and the nightmares have faded. Gershkovich has published a memoir entitled "This cursed beautiful land": it's about his experience, but also that of the broader Russian population.

Also: the Cornell University rape investigation has been reopened in response to a lawsuit filed by a woman who says she was raped in 2024. The New York Times says that her lawsuit brought renewed pressure to reopen the investigation – she is suing seven men, the university, her sorority and the fraternity. The NYT reminds readers that she says she was raped repeatedly over nearly seven hours at the Chi Phi fraternity house. The lawsuit details a series of sexual assaults and how she was pressured into doing drugs.

There have been many text messages tied to the lawsuit. CBS News says it has obtained a video of the fraternity's Snapchat group. At 1:42 am – during the rape – one fraternity guy texted "shop still open?" – like "is the woman still available?" And the answer was "Yeah". The Cut focuses on the journalists who broke the story – student journalists from The Cornell Daily Sun – they've been covering every beat and new development. For the past two weeks, they have been "relentlessly" chasing follow-ups and responses from the university's administration. Earlier, The Cornell Daily Sun published a blistering editorial called "Cornell won't, we will" – printing the names of the accused men and blaming the university for its lack of transparency. The Cut says that "throughout it all, the team has approached this case with care and moral clarity".

Bonus: The Atlantic looks at "one reason people are spending so much time alone". The article's central argument is that "inconvenience is the cost of community": we should sometimes do things that we don't want to do – or find irritating – if we want to maintain our relationships.

Finally, The Washington Post looks at Fat Bear Week's winner: a chunky bear named Backpack.

You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.